Economic impact study shows DSU added $235M to state economy in 2016

A new Economic Impact Analysis determined that Delaware State University returned almost $6 to the Delaware economy for every $1 that the state appropriated to DSU in 2016.

DSU shared the report — authored by the Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research at the University of Delaware — Jan. 11 with elected members of the Delaware General Assembly. The UD researchers studied DSU’s 2016 economic output and poured its finding into the final report.

In 2016, the state of Delaware appropriated $40.5 million to DSU, while that same year DSU injected $235 into the Delaware economy — $5.80 for every state dollar invested in DSU. That represented an increase of $28 million in DSU’s economic output within Delaware since the last economic impact study, completed in 2005.

The study used five categories of spending to calculate DSU total economic impact: compensation, operational spending, capital spending, student expenses and the expenses of DSU visitors off campus.

The 2016 DSU total economic impact also noted that:

— DSU had a 2016 workforce of 269 full-time faculty, 130 part-time faculty, 750 staff members and 858 students who were employed in areas such as researchers, teaching assistance, operations, etc..

— The wages and salaries of faculty, staff, administrators and adjuncts totaled almost $53.8 million. That group received a total of $23.2 million in benefits, resulting in a wages and benefits total of almost $77 million.

— Of the $83 million in operations spending, the report noted that 66 percent, more than $54 million, of that was paid to vendors and service providers within the state of Delaware.

— Through a combination of admissions and recruiting, athletics, conferences, alumni and other events, DSU attracted a conservative estimate of 51,600 visitors to its main campus in Dover, as well as its locations in Georgetown and Wilmington. That led to an estimate of $12.9 million spent that year by visitors at Delaware hotels, restaurants and retail.

— In 2016, DSU spent $12.4 million for construction, machinery and equipment. The report noted that no major construction took place that year, with the last major project, the Optical Science Center for Applied Research, completed in 2015. With the construction of a new residential facility slated for 2018, the report noted that construction spending should increase this year.